Preview: Braga vs Levski Sofia - prediction, team news, lineups

Braga will look to make home advantage count as they welcome Levski Sofia to Estadio Municipal this Thursday for the return leg of their Europa League second qualifying round.

Both teams played out a goalless draw in the opening fixture in Bulgaria last week, with very little to separate them across most attacking metrics aside from ball possession.

Match preview

For a team that had enjoyed a flawless pre-season campaign, winning all five friendly matches and netting 11 goals along the way, Braga would have been disappointed with their output in Sofia.

There was hardly any sense of misfortune about the result either, as the Portuguese outfit failed to translate their 62% possession into any meaningful cutting edge and managed only two shots on target – the same number as their conservative hosts.

That match marked Carlos Vicens’s first competitive outing as head coach, and he will now aim to register his first official victory with the Archbishops, who have also failed to win any of their last five competitive fixtures.

Braga ended the 2024-25 campaign winless in their final four matches, a run which saw them settle for fourth place in the Primeira Liga and miss out on direct entry into the Europa League group stage – hence their presence in this qualifying round.

Perennial contenders on the continental stage, the Minho Warriors have featured in each of the last six editions of the UEL proper, so while their trip to Bulgaria yielded little, they remain favourites to edge this tie, especially with the second leg set on home soil.

Braga won eight of their final 10 matches at Estadio Municipal last season – though the last two ended in draws – and will be hoping to rediscover that clinical form at the ground on Thursday.

Levski Sofia, on the other hand, will take pride in their resilience from the first leg, but they are under no illusion that merely matching that effort will be enough to keep their dream of a group-stage return alive after nearly 15 years of absence.

The Bulgarian outfit’s only appearances in the Europa League proper came in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, and they have shown plenty of grit in their pursuit of another shot at the big stage.

Much like last Thursday’s affair, Levski Sofia had battled to a goalless home draw against Be’er Sheva in the previous round before prevailing on penalties following a 1-1 result in the reverse fixture, so the Bulgarian outfit are no strangers to pulling through on the road with sheer doggedness.

Julio Velazquez’s men will look to lean on their impressive away run, having now gone nine consecutive matches on their travels without tasting defeat, with a 2-1 victory over Septemvri Sofia at the weekend following their shootout success in Israel.

Braga Europa League form:

Braga form (all competitions):

Levski Sofia Europa League form:

Levski Sofia form (all competitions):

Team News

Aside from centre-back Jonatas Noro, who remains a doubt due to an Achilles issue, Braga boast a clean bill of health heading into this clash.

Head coach Vicens could opt for changes in attack, with Amine El Ouzzani pushing to start up front, while Roger Fernandes may be preferred over Rodrigo Zalazar on the flank this time.

Levski Sofia boss Velazquez made sweeping changes between the first leg and the weekend fixture, with only goalkeeper Svetoslav Vustov, Georgi Kostadinov and Gasper Trdin keeping their places across both games.

Mustapha Sangare and Radoslav Kirilov came off the bench to turn the tide for Levski Sofia at the weekend, and both are expected to start on Thursday as the manager names a stronger lineup for the return leg.

Braga possible starting lineup:

Hornicek; Arrey-Mbi, Oliveira, Lagerbielke, Carvalho; Dorgeles, Moutinho, Gorbi; Fernandes Navaro, Horta

Levski Sofia possible starting lineup:

Vutsov; Neves, Dimitrov, Makoun, Maicon; Trdin, Kostadinov; Petkov, Rildo, Kirilov; Sangare

We say: Braga 2-0 Levski Sofia (Braga win 2-0 on aggregate)

Braga’s pedigree on the European stage makes them clear favourites heading into this second leg, and anything short of a victory on home turf would certainly qualify as an upset.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.